The Toronto Grilled Cheese Festival gets underway on Friday, Feb. 28 at the Roy Thomson Hall. The sold-out event will feature unconventional takes on the gooey snack, including ingredients like kimchi, Chinese barbecued pork, onion chutney and macaroni and cheese.
But if you don’t have tickets to the mouth-watering fest, The Ryersonian has a list of the best grilled cheese sandwiches around Toronto.
1. Uncle Betty’s Diner
Address: 2590 Yonge St, near Eglinton subway station
Price: $14
The eclectic diner is famous for its Ultimate Grilled Cheese ($14), featured on the Food Network’s “You Gotta Eat Here.” It’s a twist on the childhood favourite – made with melted cheddar cheese and homemade mac and cheese. The kicker? Your choice of pulled pork or all-beef meatloaf slathered in roasted garlic aioli. Like the menu warns, “this is not your mom’s grilled cheese.”
2. Cheesewerks
Address: 56 Bathurst St., corner of Bathurst and Wellington
Price: range from $8.95 to $10.25
Chessewerks offers a make-your-own special. Customers can choose from a list of nine cities that highlight specialized cheese and ingredients, including Miami, Beijing, Buffalo, Chichen Itza and Charleston. They offer wide range of toppings – braised beef, maple syrup, apricot chutney and cilantro corn salsa. Dip your custom sandwich in one of the five house-made dips. Spicy Sriracha ketchup, chipotle aioli dip and peppercorn ranch dip anyone?
3. The Grilled Cheese
Address: 66 Nassau St, Kensington Market
Price: from $5 to $10
The Kensington Market restaurant is solely dedicated to this melted treat. The Beast ($10) lives up to its name, made with jalepeno havarti, cheddar, bacon, turkey, onion and spinach. If you’re looking for something basic but delicious, try the Classic with Bacon ($5) made with aged white cheddar, arugula and bacon.
4. Say Cheese
Address: 337 Bloor Street W, near St. George subway station
Price: from $5 to $10
Say Cheese offers an unconventional take on a spicy, Mexican-inspired grilled cheese. The Nacho Libre ($5.50) consists of homemade guacamole, salsa, jalapenos and aged cheddar. The Fungi Fixation, on the other hand, is made with oyster mushrooms, button mushrooms and brie.
5. Gorilla Cheese
Address: Food truck, various locations each day
Price: up to $10
Canada’s first grilled cheese food truck – featured on the Food Network’s “Eat St.” – offers a classic grilled cheese for ordinary food lovers. But it also plays with gourmet versions of the sandwich. The Gorilla Sarducci is made with mozzarella, red onions, basil and balsamic glaze. The Bubba is topped with cheddar, pulled pork and homemade coleslaw. The Hammer features Black Forest ham, Granny Smith apples and honey mustard.
Abigale is a graduate of the Ryerson journalism class of 2014 and former news editor of The Ryersonian.